Saturday, October 09, 2010

Almost Perfect -- "Overly Meditated

Here's another episode of ALMOST PERFECT. Monday I'll discuss it -- how we came up with it, our objectives, our approach. If you're writing a spec or just interested in the process join me Monday. You can spend $500 at UCLA Extension and learn the same crap. Like before, I don't know how to edit these things so it starts about 30 seconds in.

4 comments
:

DaveMB
said...

I think that this episode works because of the restraint. You could have made the chiropractor, retreat leader, and other retreaters be comic characters but they weren't -- they were sincerely going about their business, Kim and Mike had some very mild "fish out of water" moments, but the point was what this adventure had to say about Kim and Mike's relationship. I've seen a few of these now and I know who Kim and Mike are, but I expect the human interaction between them is interesting enough to work for someone who didn't know them.

I watched this episode only after I read your Comedy Writing 101 post about it. I've never seen another episode of this show. But I enjoyed watching it come together, even as I understood what was coming.

I'll confirm DaveMB's observation that the interaction between Kim and Mike was interesting and worked even though I have not seen any other episodes of this show.

Thank you so much for posting this episode. It was one of my favorite episodes of television of all time. I've never forgotten the perfection of the scene when they are first shown in their room. Those two worked so well together with perfect timing. Thanks for the great laugh 15 years ago, and thanks for it again today.

I have been searching the internet for years for this episode of Almost Perfect. I had almost given up on ever seeing it again. Every year or so I would check for it. A couple years ago I found the title of the episode. I have remembered this episode for years as one of the funniest things I ever saw on television. My husband and I loved Almost Perfect, it had a magical combination of characters but when the actor who played Mike left, it lost it's magic. We were so sad. And when it went off the air we were even sadder. I think Nancy Travis is so talented.

Thank you soooo much for posting this. It has made my day. Can't wait to show my husband when he gets home!

About KEN LEVINE

Named one of the BEST 25 BLOGS by TIME Magazine. Ken Levine is an Emmy winning writer/director/producer/major league baseball announcer. In a career that has spanned over 30 years Ken has worked on MASH, CHEERS, FRASIER, THE SIMPSONS, WINGS, EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND, BECKER, DHARMA & GREG, and has co-created three series. He and his partner wrote the feature VOLUNTEERS. Ken has also been the radio/TV play-by-play voice of the Baltimore Orioles, Seattle Mariners, San Diego Padres. and Dodger Talk. He hosts the podcast HOLLYWOOD & LEVINE

Ken Being Social

Ken's Book Club

A collection of long-form Levine

MUST KILL TV: Ken's explosive and hilarious satire of the TV industry - now in paperback and Kindle